Drone Strike On Syrian Military College Graduation Kills At Least 100 (graphic)

BEIRUT, Oct 5 (Reuters) - At least 100 people were killed on Thursday in an attack on a military academy in Syria, a war monitor and an official said, with weaponised drones bombing the site minutes after Syria's defence minister left a graduation ceremony there.

It was one of the bloodiest attacks ever against a Syrian army installation, and unprecedented in its use of weaponized drones in a country that has faced 12 years of civil war.

Civilians and military personnel were killed in the attack on the military academy in the central province of Homs, Syria's defence ministry said, adding "terrorist" groups had used drones.

The statement did not specify an organisation and no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Syria's defence and foreign ministries vowed to respond "with full force". Syrian government forces carried out heavy bombing attacks on the opposition-held zone of Idlib throughout the day.

Syria's defence minister attended the graduation ceremony but left minutes before the attack, according to a Syrian security source and a security source in the regional alliance backing the Damascus government against opposition groups.